Yes & No

Last season a belle of the ball, vaudeville this season arrived almost before the musicians. By last week two variety shows --New Priorities of 1943 and Show Time--had opened on Broadway. Show Time should stay quite a while.

A hit last summer on the West Coast, Show Time's foxy manner makes up for its dog-eared material. It catches the audience by the lapel and at times drops right into the audience's lap. It makes fun of itself and the performers make fun of one another. Even so, it would scatter in all directions if Master of Ceremonies George Jessel didn't serve as a paper clip. Jessel's showmanship really makes it Jessel's show. If at times he talks too much, he can still raise a laugh phoning momma, create an uproar impersonating a refugee lecturer and hit the jackpot razzing his rivals ("Eddie Cantor, who was so popular years ago"; "I remember when a goose was a small animal, and not a career for Lou Holtz").

Priorities falls on its face early in the evening and can't ever get up again, though Comedian Bert Wheeler manages to prop it for a while on one elbow. Even Oldtime Crooner Harry Richman's desperate last-minute tug fails to work: he auctions off the war stamps that clothe a stripteaser. On opening night the final fig leaf went to Toymaker Louis Marx for $25,000.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.